LG advises on groundbreaking administration of 844 companies
13 November 2006
Grant Thornton instructs LG following 844 administration appointments
London-based law firm LG has been appointed to advise Nick Wood, partner in accountancy firm Grant Thornton in connection with the administration of 844 companies formerly managed by a tax solutions provider that created more than 1,000 English limited companies for South African, New Zealand and Australian contractors working in the UK.
The case, involving a search for more than £30m in unpaid tax from 844 companies, represents the largest ever single administration application in UK corporate insolvency history.
LG's instruction follows Grant Thornton's appointment last week by the High Court as administrators. In November 2005, assets - including two villas on Lake Como and a £6m bank account were seized by Grant Thornton in the hunt for missing funds.
Nick Pike, Corporate Recovery partner at LG said: "We've taken a highly innovative approach here and have used the administration process in a novel way. Ordinarily, 844 separate applications to the High Court would have had to be made, but we obtained permission to combine all together, saving huge amounts of paperwork and time. The court and insolvency regulator also gave permission to ease some of the regulations which apply to this type of insolvency – and using administration rather than liquidation has meant very considerable cost savings.
"With the administration now secured we can focus on our representation of the liquidators in the fraud claim by the companies, which will reach the courts in March next year," concluded Pike.
Notes to editors
- Lawrence Graham LLP is a London-based business law firm with over 270 lawyers. Its Corporate Recovery team is one of the best known in the UK, representing banks, financial institutions and other recovery professionals.
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